Principal Anita Yadav was shot dead by three assailants at her residence that is inside the school building in Ghuman Hera village in outer Delhi. Her brother was found dead in Jhajjar.

A 45-yaer-old school principal was shot dead by three assailants in outer Delhi.(HT File Photo)

New Delhi: A 45-year-old principal was gunned down in a school building in outer Delhi’s Gummanhera village near Najafgarh on Monday night, and hours later, her younger brother was found dead less than 10 kilometres away in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, police said on Tuesday.

The principal’s husband, their 17-year-old son, and their pet Dalmation were shot at as well, but escaped unhurt in what investigators said appeared to be an elaborate hit job over a property dispute.

The school, Rachna Public School with nearly 500 studnets enrolled from Classes 1 to 10, is run by the family.

Investigators said the circumstances suggested the two murders were related and were executed by the same men, and named a local, Naveen Yadav, as the key suspect based on preliminary investigations.

Shibesh Singh, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka), said two of the three suspects involved in the case had been identified, but could not be traced until Tuesday evening. “Naveen Yadav, the man who led the killers, was involved in a dispute over six bighas of land with the principal’s husband,” the officer said.

The school was operating for the last 23 years from the same building. Anita Yadav served as its principal, her husband Ashok Yadav handled the administration of the school. Their eldest son, Tushar, is in Class 11, and two younger daughters study outside Delhi. Anita’s brother Jai Kishan managed the school’s buses.

The police said Ashok also ran a property business in partnership with the suspect Naveen, but Ashok said that wasn’t correct. “Two years ago, I had loaned R1 crore to Naveen’s aunt in lieu of her six bighas of land. When Naveen got to know of it, he wanted me to return the land, but without the money,” Ashok said.

The dispute had led to heated confrontations between the two families over the past few months, and took a murderous turn on Monday night, he said.

“Tushar and I had returned home after a game of badminton. He walked upstairs while I parked the car. I was just about to shut the iron gates of the school when Naveen and one other man barged inside. They had a pistol and held me at gunpoint,” alleged Ashok.

“Holding me hostage, they led me to my residence atop the building. I was compelled to call out my family by lying that we had relatives over,” he said.

When Anita and Tushar emerged and saw Ashok at gunpoint, they rushed to help . One of the gunmen responded by shooting at Ashok, but he missing. He alleged they also fired at Tushar and their pet dog, but missed.

“One of them then held my mother by her neck while the other shot man shot her in her chest. Their pistol then jammed, forcing them to flee,” Tushar said.

The police said they escaped in a car kept ready outside the school. CCTV cameras showed the killers were in the building for less than three minutes. Officers said a breakthrough in the case was expected soon.